Railway-spike



(Model.)

B. M. BOYD.

RAILWAY SPIKE."

Patented Oct. 13, 1885.

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spike; Fig. 2, a side view; Fig. 3, a perspec UNITE STATES ROBERT M. BOYD, OF

PATENT OFFICE.

RAOIN E, XVISOONSIN.

RAlLWAY-SPIKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 328,103, dated October 13, 1

Application filed January 17, 188:"). Serial No. 153,214. (ModeL) To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT M. BOYD, of the city of Racine, county of Racine, and State of lVisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Spikes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

Figure 1 is a front view of my improved tive; and Fig. 4, a series of sections on the lines indicated in Fig. 1, showing the form and proportions of the spike at different points.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are denoted by like letters of reference.

Owing to the scarcity and'high price of oak and other hard-wood ties railway companies have been obliged to adopt the softer woods, and have long felt the necessity of a trackspike suitable for use with such soft ties. Gertain qualities are essential to such a spike. For instance, it must be able to resist the outward side pressure of the rail; hold tenaciously when driven into soft wood; be capable of being used where the common spike is now used for instance, in the ordinary nine-sixteenths slots out in rail flanges or in angle bars adapted to be driven and withdrawn by the ordinary track tools,and so formed that it shall drive squarely and hug tightly against the rail-flanges.

My invention relates to improvements in a spike that fills in a preeminent degree every one of the above essentials; and said spike is especially adapted to the soft woods. The great width of back prevents it giving away from side pressure of rail-flange, and its great amount of bearing surface with the compressed fiber in the channeled sides will make it hold with the greatest tenacity against any drawing force. Every claim made for this spike in soft wood will apply with equal'force to hard wood.

The efforts of those who have endeavored to fill the above requirements by the invention and introduction of the triangular or the T- shaped spike have only increased instead of diminishing the obstacles they sought to over- Furthermore, these triangular or T-shaped spikes are difficult to drive from their tendency to twist and dodge if they come in contactwith a knot or other hardsubstance.

The form and construction of the spike will be readily understood upon referring to the annexed drawings, in which A indicates the head of the spike; B B, nicks or depressions in the rear flange immediately below and at each side of the head; 0, the neck or solid body of the shank just below the head and of the same width as the front flange; D, the chin,

and F and G the front and rear flanges, con- I nected by a web, H, thus forming channels or grooves a a in the side faces of the spike.

The lower end of the spike is beveled from the front downward toward the lower end of the rear flange, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the result of which is that both flanges'F and and G are made to present sharp chisel-edges at the lower ends, as shown at I and K. These sharp edges sever the grain of the wood into which the spike is driven, making a'clean,

sharp out, and insuring a firm and solid backing for the flanges, whereas the forms hitherto adopted have tended to tear and disrupt the fiber of the wood, and to produce a jagged.

hole, the walls of which yield more or less under pressure against the spike and rot or decay in a comparatively short time.

The front flange, F, is made of the same width as the common spike, in order that it may enter the seats or slots cut in the railflanges and angle-bars now in use, but the rear flange is made considerably wider than the front flange and wider than any spike now in use, to present a broad bearing-face to the wood into which it is driven. This widening of the rear flange is a very important feature of the invention. The channels a a in the side faces of the spike also serve important purposesfirstly, in rendering the spike light; secondly, in increasing. the amount of surface in contact with the wood and propor- ICO crease the tearing or breakage thereof, and

facilitate the driving.

The chisel-points and the broad flange G prevent the twisting. or turning of the spike in driving, and the beveling of the end downward from the front to or toward the back' causes the upper end or head to hug closely against the: rail as the spike isdriven intothe" woods:-

For'the purpose of facilitating the entrance of the spikeinto thewood and of causing it to become more firmly embedd'ed with each driving stroke, theflanges VF G and the web H are made gradually tapering from-the upper to* theilower end, as shown in Fig.1. and as -i-ndi cated bythe-sections shown in Fig. 4, and the low-er end of each=is beveled somewhat more sharply'to produce a wedge-like point, as bestshown in Figs. '1 and 3, thus causing'a greater compression of the wood in 'contact'with the web and'edge of the flanges.

If extended entirely: to the head of the spike, thechannels a or might permit the entrance of water at the sides of the spike and cause the wood to rot away. To prevent this the channels are stopped some little distance, usually fromra quarter of an inch to one inch, below the head A, leaving a solid neck, 0, as shown in Figs. 2 and 8, so thatwhen the spike is driven to place thesolid portion 0 overhangs and covers the channels and the wood extending into them.

By referringto Figs. 2 and 3 it will be seen that. thechin D is curved to conform with the- G, the. implement used for extracting commonspikes could not be used with this if theflange were carried of its full width up to the head A hence I form the nicks or depressions B insaid flange justbelow the head, and thus afford an entrance for the ordinary claw or extractingtool.

It is .not necess try that the bevel orinclina tionof the lower end be-all inone direction, theonly essentialrequisite being that'it be so brought to a point that it shall readily enter the wood and that the flanges be made with chisel ends or points, which may be done by beveling theend from the front and back flanges toward the middle of the web H.

It is important that the channels a a. be left open and unobstructed at their lower ends,as otherwise the chisel could not be formed upon the flanges and the driving qualities of the spike would be impaired.

I claim herein as my invention-- 1. A spike having front and rear flanges connectedby a web, said flanges and web being made of decreasing width from their upper to their lower ends, substantially as shown and 'describedz- 2. A spike having'fiatfront'and rear flanges and'longitudinal channels in its side faces open at their lower ends.

3. -A spike-bodyconsisting'of a web and two flanges of unequal width, substantially as set forth.

4. An H shaped spike-body with one of the flanges or sides" considerably wider than the other, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth. V

5. A spike with backflange chisel-pointed from front to back, for the purpose described and shown, substantially as set forth.

6. An H-shaped spike having its weband front flange narrowed or tapered laterally at their lower ends.

7. A rail-spike having flat front and rear flanges and channeled sides, the channels being open at their lower ends, and a solid unchanneled portion'above the channels and belowthe head of such depth as to enter the timber and cover thewood in the channels when thespike is driven its'pr'oper distance into the'tilnber.

8. A spike having a broad rear flange, G, provided'with nicks or depressions B in said flange'just beneath the head'to permit the entrance ofan extracting implement.

9. The herein-described spike having head A, nicks B B, flat neck 0, curved chin D,

front flange," F, rear flange, G, 'wider than flange F, web H, and cutting-edges I and K,

' all' substantially as shown and described.

1 ROBERT M. BOYD.

Witnesses:

W. A. WILLIAMs, THos-R. WILLIAMs; 

